Facebook honcho Mark Zuckerberg allegedly agreed not to fact-check political posts by Donald Trump's administration if the former President spared the social media giant 'heavy-handed regulations,' according to a tell-all book about Silicon Valley billionaire Peter Thiel.
In what Thiel reportedly called 'state-sanctioned conservatism,' Zuckerberg 'promised [that Facebook] would avoid fact-checking political speech - thus allowing the Trump campaign to claim whatever it wanted,' writes Max Chafkin, the features editor for Bloomberg's Businessweek, in his upcoming book, 'The Contrarian: Peter Thiel and Silicon Valley's Pursuit of Power.'
In October of 2019, on a trip to answer congressional questions about a cryptocurrency that would function within the Facebook platform, Facebook board member Thiel joined Zuckerberg, Jared Kushner, Donald Trump and their spouses for a closed-door discussion, Chafkin wrote.
Thiel detailed the deal between the Trump administration and Zuckerberg to a confidante, who was later interviewed by Chafkin, according to excerpts from the book published Monday by New York Magazine.
![In a 2019 meeting with Donald Trump and Jared Kushner, Mark Zuckerberg allegedly 'promised [that Facebook] would avoid fact-checking political speech - thus allowing the Trump campaign to claim whatever it wanted.' In return, Max Chafkin writes in his new book, 'The Contrarian: Peter Thiel and Silicon Valley's Pursuit of Power,' the administration would 'lay off any heavy-handed regulations'](https://i.dailymail.co.uk/1s/2021/09/20/17/48152637-10009669-image-m-23_1632156717621.jpg)
In a 2019 meeting with Donald Trump and Jared Kushner, Mark Zuckerberg allegedly 'promised [that Facebook] would avoid fact-checking political speech - thus allowing the Trump campaign to claim whatever it wanted.' In return, Max Chafkin writes in his new book, 'The Contrarian: Peter Thiel and Silicon Valley's Pursuit of Power,' the administration would 'lay off any heavy-handed regulations'
Zuckerberg later detailed his meeting with Donald Trump (pictured left) meeting to PayPal founder Peter Thiel (pictured right) - Thiel confided in an associate, who then revealed the content of the meeting in an interview with Chafkin for his new book
'Zuckerberg came to an understanding with Kushner during the meal. Facebook, he promised, would avoid fact-checking political speech — thus allowing the Trump campaign to claim whatever it wanted. In return the Trump administration would lay off on any heavy-handed regulations. Facebook had long seen itself as a government unto itself; now, thanks to the understanding brokered by Thiel, the site would push what the Thiel confidant called 'state-sanctioned conservatism,'" Chafkin wrote.
The Facebook founder denied that there had been any deal with the Trump administration, Chafkin wrote, calling the claim 'pretty ridiculous.'
'I accepted the invite for dinner because I was in town and he is the president of the United States,' Zuckerberg said in the Axios interview.
'For what it's worth, I also had multiple meals and meetings with President Obama... both at the White House and outside, including hosting an event for him at Facebook HQ.'
'The fact that I met with a head of state should not be surprising, and does not suggest we have some kind of deal.'
Likewise, a representative from Facebook's Executive Communications department categorically denied that such an agreement was fostered, and told MailOnline.com on Monday that 'the timeline suggested in the book excerpt conflicts with what's already widely been reported.'
In September of 2019, Facebook Vice President of Global Affairs Sir Nick Clegg announced that the platform would not fact-check politicians' statements posted to the site.
'We don't believe... that it's an appropriate role for us to referee political debates and prevent a politician's speech from reaching its audience and being subject to public debate and scrutiny,' Clegg said in the 2019 statement.
Although it was formally announced by Clegg before the 2020 election, the platform implemented the policy in September of 2018 before that year's congressional midterm election, according to the Washington Post.
'One specific critique that I've seen is that there are a lot of people who've said that maybe we're too sympathetic or too close in some way to the Trump administration,' Zuckerberg said in the Axios interview.
'I just want to push back on that a bit - [W]e need to separate out the fact of giving people some space for discourse, from the positions that we have individually, where I feel like the company and I personally have been.'
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The Facebook founder denied that there had been any deal with the Trump administration, Chafkin wrote, calling the claim 'pretty ridiculous'
Also in 2019, Zuckerberg (pictured) met with French president Emmanuel Macron to discuss Facebook's partnership with the French government on tackling hate speech online, amid calls for tighter regulation
Trump, who is banned from posting on Facebook, told FOX host Greg Gutfeld that Zuckerberg 'used to come to the White House to kiss [his] a**' earlier this month.
'I'd say, "Oh, that's nice." I have the head of Facebook coming with his lovely wife. And they come, and they'd have dinner with me in the White House.
'Then you see what they do about me and about Republicans, and it's just sort of crazy. But that's the way the world works.'
Currently, Trump is embroiled in class-action lawsuits against Google, YouTube Twitter and Facebook, alleging that the platforms silence his and other conservatives' voices.
He invited 'anyone who wants to join' to become a
